LOS ANGELES, Aug. 1 -- Public support for hosting the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles is overwhelming, even if it means waiting for eleven years, according to a survey published Tuesday by Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles, California.
Some 83 percent of residents in Los Angeles County said they want L.A. to host the Olympics in 2028 in the survey conducted from July 13-18. It's close to the approval rating of 88 percent for 2024 Summer Olympic Games in another survey conducted by LMU last year.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Monday that the second largest city of the Untied States would bring Olympic and Paralympic Games back to the nation in 2028.
"The support among Angelenos for hosting the Summer Olympics remains strong, whether it's in 2024 or 2028," said Brianne Gilbert, associate director of the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University. "The vast majority want the Games in L.A."
The LMU survey reached 600 respondents by phone and online. It found 54 percent "strongly support" the 2028 Olympics, 29 percent "somewhat" supported, 9 percent "somewhat" opposed and 8 percent "strongly" opposed.
Among those who backed the bid, the most frequently cited reason was for a perceived economic boost to the region.
According to the survey funded by the LA24 Committee, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, and Loyola Marymount University, 70 percent of respondents said they'd attend an Olympic event in person if Los Angeles hosted in 2028 as 21 percent indicated they would leave town during the Games.
"This new LMU poll shows Angelenos are excited to bring the Olympics back in 2028. L.A. already has a proven Olympic legacy from the '84 Games. That's why it's easy to believe in and support our 2028 plan -- low risk and ready to go," Casey Wasserman, chairman of LA 2028, was quoted as saying by City News Service.
LA 2028 is the noNPRofit committee leading Los Angeles' bid that was renamed Monday from LA 2024. Los Angeles was running for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in the first place, and now it has reached on the agreement of hosting 2028 Games, while ceding the 2024 Games to Paris. The deal would make Los Angeles a three-time Olympic city, after hosting the 1932 and 1984 Games.